Election denier Kurt Olsen withdraws from ‘grand conspiracy’ case, but remains on DOJ payroll, official says

Kurt Olsen, an election denier who attempted to overturn the 2020 election results in favor of President Trump, is resigning from his role in the “grand conspiracy” investigation targeting Obama and Biden-era officials, a Justice Department official said Wednesday.

Olsen announced his intention to withdraw from the case in an email Monday to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

CBS News reported Olsen was resigning from the Justice Department on Monday, after Justice Department officials in Miami and Washington misinterpreted Olsen’s email and believed he was leaving the federal government altogether, a department official said Wednesday.

Only after several media outlets published stories about his resignation did Olsen then call Justice Department officials to clarify that he still intended to remain employed there as an attorney, the official said.

Olsen did not return an email seeking comment.

The confusion over Olsen’s role came into public view earlier Wednesday, when Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked about reports of Olsen’s resignation during an unrelated news conference.

“Kurt Olsen did not resign,” Blanche said, adding that there was “an incredible amount of fake news.”

When asked if Olsen had left the investigation, Blanche replied: “He is still employed exactly where he was before.”

But a department official later clarified that while Olsen will still be on staff as lead counsel, he will not be assigned to the grand conspiracy case.

It remains unclear exactly what work Olsen will do in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, as another hurdle has emerged.

Before he submitted his resignation email from the case, a problem arose with his security clearance, two sources with knowledge of the matter told CBS News.

The lack of a security clearance means Olsen was unable to work effectively on the major conspiracy investigation, which involves reviewing classified evidence related to a variety of topics — ranging from intelligence assessments of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election to former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into President Trump’s retention of classified documents.

Two sources said Olsen has expressed interest in a possible transfer to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of North Carolina to work with Dan Bishop on election issues, but it is unclear whether that will come to fruition.

Olsen is the third prosecutor this year to withdraw from the grand conspiracy case and a separate investigation into whether former CIA Director John Brennan lied to Congress about the agency’s role in assessing intelligence about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Maria Medetis Longchief of the National Security Section for the Southern District of Florida, was removed from the case in April after expressing concerns about the strength of the evidence.

It was quickly replaced by Joe DiGenovaa former federal prosecutor in the 1980s who returned to the Justice Department to lead the big conspiracy case.

Even as witnesses prepared to appear before the Florida grand jury, diGenova abruptly resigned in September, amid tensions with the deputy attorney general’s office over its handling of the case.

He represented Mr. Trump’s campaign in its failed attempt to overthrow power. Election 2020 results.

He has long denounced Brennan’s role in the assessment that Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 election, calling him in an interview “the originator of the entire counterintelligence investigation.”

Olsen joined the Southern District of Florida as senior counsel in the spring.

He previously worked at the White House as “presidentially appointed director of election security and integrity,” the FBI said. In 2020, Olsen was an attorney working with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to urge the Supreme Court to overturn the election results.

Earlier this year, Olsen referred Fulton County’s election record to the FBI, prompting agents to execute a search warrant earlier this year. They seized dozens of boxes containing ballots and other materials from the 2020 election, an FBI affidavit revealed.

Olsen also made several other 2020 election-related referrals to the Justice Department, including one to Arizona, according to a source with direct knowledge.